Black & White
Entertain this thought for a moment.
What if human beings in their entire history had never believed in God, never even had the thought of the existence of a supernatural being? We never considered an afterlife or even reincarnation. Simply, we live, we die. Then one day you feel a tug at your heart and you think you hear something. Your mind perceives it to be a message that is not your own. Suddenly you just experienced something that, as we understand today, is from God. Again, the same sort of thing happens to you. You're sure you've just heard a voice and the impact of some sort of presence moves your heart. Now you're sure it's God.
God says to you, "I have a hope for your life. I have plans to prosper you, and you will surely not live in the filth you have been living in. I want you to follow Me through this path I have made. Turn from the life you have made for yourself and from all you've acquired. I will teach you how to live for Me, for I am mighty. I am holy. I am worthy. And i love you. And i will make sacrifices to be with you."
Could you believe in this voice? Would you give up everything you have (possessions, relationships, goals, selfishness, etc) to follow Him, knowing that everything you gave up would reject you and not let you back?
Remember, you're sure you are the only person who has ever experienced God. No one else has mentioned it, written it, or known it. In this moment, after God had just spoken to you and asked you a question, would you choose to fully follow Him? You only have enough time to think to yourself that He either really is who He says He is, or something is messing with you. You even doubt what you've heard, thinking you are somehow a messed up individual.
There can be no more thinking lest the moment pass you by. Now choose.
Luckily, God does not give ultimatums. Thankfully, His love endures patience. And whether you have thought about God or not today, He thinks of you, seeks you out, and fights for you.
We also have the luxury of having 8,000 years of accounted human history in which people have followed God. We have rather accurate details of God miraculously becoming a vulnerable infant only to grow and sacrifice His life to atone for us; to know us; to show us He loves us. Just think about it, would you or anyone you know write down in accurate detail something God has done in your life? Yeah, now name one friend of yours that you feel you could accurately describe in words that people could understand today and for thousands of years to come. It ain't easy! Certainly this "Bible" thing (aka "the story of God") must have validity.
In the thought i described above in which there was no knowledge / no belief in God, even with God's impact of seeking us out and moving within us, i doubt we would choose Him.
Look at how much we have today, along with our knowledge of human history and God's interaction with us...and many of us still don't choose Him. Even if you have chosen God in those heart-tugging moments, how long and to what degree did you sacrifice your goals, your life, to fully follow Him? Once this very moment to choose God passes, there is no getting it back.
There can be no more thinking lest the moment pass you by. Now choose.
Your brother from the miry clay,
~Jacob
P.S. "Black and White" is a PC game i played a couple of times in high school. In most ways, it's essence is relevant to this post. We are either black or white with God, hot or cold for Him (as we know, "lukewarm" is essentially cold. See Rev. 3:15-16). The one difference is that YOU get to play God in this game. Or maybe, that is relevant too...
What if human beings in their entire history had never believed in God, never even had the thought of the existence of a supernatural being? We never considered an afterlife or even reincarnation. Simply, we live, we die. Then one day you feel a tug at your heart and you think you hear something. Your mind perceives it to be a message that is not your own. Suddenly you just experienced something that, as we understand today, is from God. Again, the same sort of thing happens to you. You're sure you've just heard a voice and the impact of some sort of presence moves your heart. Now you're sure it's God.
God says to you, "I have a hope for your life. I have plans to prosper you, and you will surely not live in the filth you have been living in. I want you to follow Me through this path I have made. Turn from the life you have made for yourself and from all you've acquired. I will teach you how to live for Me, for I am mighty. I am holy. I am worthy. And i love you. And i will make sacrifices to be with you."
Could you believe in this voice? Would you give up everything you have (possessions, relationships, goals, selfishness, etc) to follow Him, knowing that everything you gave up would reject you and not let you back?
Remember, you're sure you are the only person who has ever experienced God. No one else has mentioned it, written it, or known it. In this moment, after God had just spoken to you and asked you a question, would you choose to fully follow Him? You only have enough time to think to yourself that He either really is who He says He is, or something is messing with you. You even doubt what you've heard, thinking you are somehow a messed up individual.
There can be no more thinking lest the moment pass you by. Now choose.
Luckily, God does not give ultimatums. Thankfully, His love endures patience. And whether you have thought about God or not today, He thinks of you, seeks you out, and fights for you.
We also have the luxury of having 8,000 years of accounted human history in which people have followed God. We have rather accurate details of God miraculously becoming a vulnerable infant only to grow and sacrifice His life to atone for us; to know us; to show us He loves us. Just think about it, would you or anyone you know write down in accurate detail something God has done in your life? Yeah, now name one friend of yours that you feel you could accurately describe in words that people could understand today and for thousands of years to come. It ain't easy! Certainly this "Bible" thing (aka "the story of God") must have validity.
In the thought i described above in which there was no knowledge / no belief in God, even with God's impact of seeking us out and moving within us, i doubt we would choose Him.
Look at how much we have today, along with our knowledge of human history and God's interaction with us...and many of us still don't choose Him. Even if you have chosen God in those heart-tugging moments, how long and to what degree did you sacrifice your goals, your life, to fully follow Him? Once this very moment to choose God passes, there is no getting it back.
There can be no more thinking lest the moment pass you by. Now choose.
Your brother from the miry clay,
~Jacob
P.S. "Black and White" is a PC game i played a couple of times in high school. In most ways, it's essence is relevant to this post. We are either black or white with God, hot or cold for Him (as we know, "lukewarm" is essentially cold. See Rev. 3:15-16). The one difference is that YOU get to play God in this game. Or maybe, that is relevant too...